TWO men have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder following a fight in Broad Street earlier today.

The arrests came after a brawl involving six men outside the Rococo Lounge in Broad Street at 2.10am which left one of them fighting for his life.

Three ambulances were rushed to the scene where they treated one man for stab wounds and another for a heart attack. A third man was also treated for minor injuries. All three were taken to City Hospital.

Police cordoned off Broad Street to rush hour traffic following the attack.

This morning Broad Street remained closed to traffic from Centenery Square to Sheepcote Street, causing long queues for rush hour traffic.

A block, including the Rococo Lounge, Jongleurs and the Rocket Club was also closed to pedestrians while police forensic teams searched the scene.

However, a police spokeswoman stressed that the fight had started in the street and not inside any of the pubs or clubs nearby.

Alan Sartori, owner of the Rocket Club and chairman of the Broad Street Business Improvement District, said the incident had come at a time when crime and disorder on Birmingham's Golden Mile was falling.

He said: "It is unfortunate this has happened when so much progress is being made. Clearly some people have difficult temperaments and cannot behave like the majority of people.

"We will wait for the police investigation to see exactly what happened and review our security."

He said that many workers, including cleaners, hotel staff, delivery drivers and business people had been unable to get to work this morning.

The assault happened just as pubs and clubs lining Birmingham's Golden Mile prepared for longer opening hours under the new licensing act.